Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for February 2015
February was a month that was slow to get going but when it eventually did, Brighton and Hove Albion put in eased their fears of relegation to League One slightly by opening up a six point gap to the Championship’s drop zone.
An entertaining opening game of the month saw Nottingham Forest prove to be too good for the Albion with a 3-2 win at the Amex and that was followed by two 0-0 bore draws on the road at Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday.
At that stage, it looked as if everything we’d been warned about Chris Hughton’s negative football by Norwich City supporters might in fact be true. That was until two magnificent home victories with Birmingham City beaten 4-3 and the annual home win over The Leeds United coming with a 2-0 success before a 1-0 loss at Bolton.
What has bought on the turnaround? The signing of Beram Kayal from Celtic has certainly improved midfield while Hughton’s arrival has led to a marked improvement in the form of Inigo Calderon – who is now operating as a right winger – Joao Teixeira, Rohan Ince and Sam Baldock – all of which makes this a particularly hard month to pick a winner from.
Sam Baldock
He continued his recent good form which is finally going someway to justifying the £2m summer outlay on him with another good month out on the left side of attack, including netting in the victory over Leeds United. It would be interesting to see him go through the middle now there is some form and confidence.
Joe Bennett
Looks like being one of the few successes of the 200 players loaned in by the Albion so far this season, playing a big part in the defensive solidarity that led to three clean sheets being recorded in February.
Inigo Calderon
What can we say about the man that hasn’t already been said? He is absolutely revelling in a more advanced role on the right, netting a brace against Birmingham City and scoring with his face against Leeds.
Rohan Ince
He has become one of the first names on the team sheet in the last month, showing a welcome return to the form that marked him out as such a talent last season. His presence alongside Beram Kayal cannot be underestimated when it comes to analysing why the Albion suddenly look far better defensively than they have all season.
Beram Kayal
Scored within five minutes of making his debut against Nottingham Forest, since when it has been evident that he is a class above what we have had in midfield all season. The best four game unbeaten sequence of the season occurring when he was given his first run of games in the side is no coincidence.
David Stockdale
Continues to divide the fans, with many calling for him to be dropped after the Forest game in which he conceded three sloppy goals, but he responded with three clean sheets out of four and what proved to be a match-winning penalty save right on the stroke of half time against Birmingham.
Joao Teixeira
The little Portuguese man has solidified his position as the Albion’s most creative player and one of the biggest goal threats, tearing Leeds apart after scoring twice and giving Birmingham’s defenders recurring nightmares four days prior to that.
